As Russia was called at different times
The history of the country, officially called the RussianThe Federation, and in everyday life - Russia, has many centuries. In different epochs this country was differently called by its inhabitants and representatives of other peoples.
In the same era, Russia could have different names, because the self-design was different from the designations adopted by other nations.
Antiquity
Lands corresponding to the territory of modernRussia, have been described by ancient geographers and historians at a time when there was no talk of any state formations. Often, these descriptions were of a fantastic nature. For example, the ancient Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily wrote about Hyperborea - the mysterious northern Earth. Presumably, this "country" corresponded to the territory of the Russian North. According to Diodorus of Sicily, the life of the Hyperboreans is so carefree and happy that they throw themselves into the sea, fed up with pleasures. Do not be surprised: people have always been able to inhabit fantastic creatures of the earth, of which they knew little.Foreign names
In the 10th century, Arab historians described threeSlavic territories, which they called Al-Slavia with its capital in the city of Salau, Aratynia and Cuiaba. Modern historians identify As Slavia with the Novgorod land, and its capital - with the city of Slovene, located near Novgorod, and Cuiab - with Kiev. The location of Artania remains unclear. Presumably, it was located on the territory of modern Ryazan. In the Viking Age, the Normans referred to Russia as the "country of cities" - Gardariki. It should not be thought that at that time in Russia there were many highly developed city-shopping centers, such as Novgorod in a later era. The word Gardariki would be more correctly translated as "the land of fortresses." In Europe in the 15th and 18th centuries, Russia was called Muscovy. However, so called Russia not all Europeans, but only residents of the Commonwealth, as well as Italians and French, who received information from this state. Self-name
The oldest name of the territory populated byEastern Slavs - Russia. The name goes back to the name of the tribe Rus, which became the basis for the unification of the Slavic tribes. Among historians, there is no consensus on the origin of this people. Some historians consider Russia a Scandinavian tribe, others - Western Slavic, the third erect this name to the Sarmatian tribes of rockolans and rosomans. At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, another form of the name is affirmed - Russia. This happened under the influence of Greek bookishness, and originally this name appeared in the literature. October 22, 1721 after the victory in the Northern War, Peter I takes the title of Emperor of All Russia, and the state gets a new name - the Russian empire. So the country was called until 1917. On September 1, 1917, the Provisional Government proclaimed the Russian Republic. In 1922, a new state emerged on the ruins of the Russian Empire - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), whose center is Russia, now called the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the modern name - the Russian Federation - was adopted.
